Two days ago, I left the house for an errand, and trotting down the street was this fox. He was chasing birds, trying to flush them out of a tree, and I was glad to know my cats were inside.
He was very beautiful and not at all afraid of me. We just looked at each other and I had plenty of time to admire the stripes beside his eyes and the fluffiness of his tail before he took off.
Not sure where he came from. There is an extensive network of parks through the houses, and we are not far from open land, but it was still a surprise. I’m used to seeing deer and even some coyotes, but never a fox before this one.
Do you see wildlife in your neighborhood?
We are pretty much a suburban neighborhood, but have a greenbelt with a creek running through it, and we have several peacocks that live in the neighborhood, tons of bunnies, and I even saw a bobcat one morning as I was taking a walk. He (or she?) was lying in the grass at the edge of the greenbelt and I thought he was a very large yellow housecat enjoying the sun until I got closer and he gave me a strangely WILD meow! We never know what will turn up around here.
I saw a mother and two or three baby foxes crossing the street in a neighborhood one day in Alabama. They are unusual looking creatures, aren’t they?
We are pretty much a suburban neighborhood, but have a greenbelt with a creek running through it, and we have several peacocks that live in the neighborhood, tons of bunnies, and I even saw a bobcat one morning as I was taking a walk. He (or she?) was lying in the grass at the edge of the greenbelt and I thought he was a very large yellow housecat enjoying the sun until I got closer and he gave me a strangely WILD meow! We never know what will turn up around here.
I saw a mother and two or three baby foxes crossing the street in a neighborhood one day in Alabama. They are unusual looking creatures, aren’t they?
We are pretty much a suburban neighborhood, but have a greenbelt with a creek running through it, and we have several peacocks that live in the neighborhood, tons of bunnies, and I even saw a bobcat one morning as I was taking a walk. He (or she?) was lying in the grass at the edge of the greenbelt and I thought he was a very large yellow housecat enjoying the sun until I got closer and he gave me a strangely WILD meow! We never know what will turn up around here.
I saw a mother and two or three baby foxes crossing the street in a neighborhood one day in Alabama. They are unusual looking creatures, aren’t they?
We’re in Apple Valley, a southern suburb of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, along the Mississippi and Minnesota River valleys, and in the line of wooded hills that circle the Minnesota Zoo. Red-tailed hawks, bald eagles and even peregrine falcons are common here, as well as Canadian geese, ducks and wild turkeys. I’ve heard of bear, bobcat and even a panther sighting, although mostly I’ve seen raccoon, badger and woodchucks. I’ve seen two foxes, one on the way to Mall of America, and the other on the Mississippi parkway.
When I was living in Colorado Springs, I did see a fox, early one morning at a graveyard, near the grave of that military officer whose statue is downtown. It saw the car and ducked into its hole.
Odd you should mention the fox… We live in downtown Denver where the houses are tight and tall. Just the other day my husband called out from the front hall that there was a fox on our street. The boys raced outside to see the fox trot on down the street and head through someone’s yard. Which come to think of it is odd because most of the small side yards in my neighborhood are fenced off. Anyway it’s the first time in our 15 years on the block to see a fox.
I have the blessing of living almost in the middle of a nature preserve. We are in a Detroit suburb – everyone get that image of Detroit in your mind – now… Our house is on a dirt road. Across the street for a half mile in each direction are woods, lush and dense and full of sudden ponds and fallen trees and wildlife. It is, funnily enough a red fox preserve, but I too see more coyotes than anything else other than racoons (do NOT get me started on the problems with the garbage cans!) and deer. Behind the house are woods leading down to a creek. But five minutes in the car I am in an industrial park. I live in a tiny pocket of the country in the midst of big(ish) city, and I love it. Barvara, only a writer would note the lines around the foxes eyes… what great observations! Thank you.
It must be Stanislau!
Hi Barbara, When I lived in Lone Tree, Colorado on the golf course, every winter a beautiful red fox would come loping over the snow, leaving little feet marks behind him. You could tell he was looking for mice or maybe rabbits, but definitely something to eat. Sometimes he came in the morning, and other times he came at dusk. I gave him the name Stanislau and wanted to write a children’s story about him.
Now, I’m living in Arizona, I see lots of coyotes, but no foxes. And, of course, there’s no snow! However, I had a beautiful, sleek Road Runner in my driveway just last week!
Happy Holidays to you and your family!
Hmm…I promise I didn’t mean to post that three times. 🙂
I’m on the edge of the city near the University of Wis. Arboretum and also have a wooded hillside behind my apt. building, so there is some wildlife in the area: raccoons, foxes, coyotes, deer, wild turkies…they’ve all been sighted in our neighborhood over the years. Sadly, though, we have not seen much of them since they started allowing dogs in our complex. About the only critters brave enough to stick around are the squirrels, of which there are plenty. I’d take the wild critters over the dogs any day!
The only wild life in my neighbourhood are the louts who attend parties in a rental across the street who seem to think our brick fence is a toilet and the grass verge by the footpath is a used bottle dump.
However, when we get out in the boat it’s not completely unheard of to see pods of dolphins in the Auckland harbour. Can they count?
Love all these stories of wildlife. Julie, a bobcat!! Wow. That would be a tiny bit scary, I think. (And every so often typepad glitches like that. Not sure why.)
Michelle, I wonder if the plentiful woods and water loan themselves to so much wildlife.
Interesting, Amy, that you just saw a fox, too. I wonder if they’re hungry or hot or off schedule. There have been a lot of deer around lately, too.
Gayle–Stanislau. Of course! (You should write that story.)
So the dogs chased off the wildlife, Heather? Around here, the wildlife just heckle the dogs. 🙂
Yvonne, LOL on the louts. Dolphins definitely, definitely count!
I live in the north west of Melbourne Australia. We have flocks of cockatoos that sit on the high freeway poles, squawking at the cars and pink galahs, who do the same thing. One friend, who lives twenty minutes up the road, has to watch out for kangaroos driving home after dusk. Another had a grumpy wombat living under her house. I just have a few pale lizards, but I think they’re sweet. All the bob cats and eagles sound awesome.
I have no idea what a wombat is. If it lives under the house, it probably isn’t a proper bat. And seeing a kangaroo in the wild makes me shiver.
Also, what is a galah?? Pink, yet.
Oh, I do think I’m going to love Australia! I can’t wait.